We Die Young
by Angelus Mortis
Summary: A/U. Frankie comes back to put things right. *Revised* Fixed Typos


**Disclaimer:** Frankie Stone and all other All My Children characters belong to ABC. The title, as well as the lyrics, is taken from the Alice In Chains song of the same name. It can be found on the album "Facelift".   
**Altered:** Erica actually does kill Frankie, and Frankie's not too happy about it.   
**Genre:** Crossover: AMC/The Crow, Song Fic 

**We Die Young **

_Scary's on the wall   
Scary's on his way_

Cold. Cold and dark. She hated both. It was cold, dark, and closed in. She felt around her, only to be closed in at all sides by what seemed like satin pillows. _A coffin? No freakin' way. I'm not… I can't be…_Her thoughts were brushed away by her desperate urge to get OUT. And fast. 

She clawed at the top of her prison, tearing through the satin and polyester stuffing only to hit hardness. Wood. She clawed at that, too, her fingers bleeding as her nails broke and ripped down to the quick. She clawed until she suddenly punched through the wood into soft soil, some of it falling onto her face. She desperately dug through the soil for what seemed like and eternity before she surfaced. She inhaled the fresh air around as she took in her surroundings. She was in a graveyard, that much she could tell, she just didn't know why. She leaned back on a gravestone and curled up. She tried hard to remember why she was here, and who she was. 

_Watch where you spit   
I'd advise you wait until it's over   
Then you got hit   
And you shoulda know better_

Curiously, she turned and faced the gravestone she was leaning on. "Mary-Francis 'Frankie' Stone", she read out loud. "That's… that's ME!" She gasped. "But… I'm not dead. I'm not dead. I'm. Not. DEAD! Am I…?" She shut eyes tight. "This isn't real… This isn't real…" Then the memories hit her like a ton of bricks. 

The boy… JR was his name. Bianca walking in on them. The look on the poor girl's face. After Bianca ran off, she kicked the boy out of her room and, in tears, called Erica. She realized now that that phone call had been the end of her. 

_And we die young   
Faster we run_

Instead of searching for Bianca, Erica had come over to Frankie's room and put a bullet in her gut. Frankie could hear the reverberating boom as she clutch her midsection, the memory hitting her as hard as that bullet had. 

Sure, she made the mother of all fuck-ups. She was sorry, so very damn sorry, but she didn't think she deserved to die for it. She hurt Bianca, and wanted a chance to make it up to her. That chance, however, was stripped away from her. Now she had a second chance to make things right with Bianca… and with Erica. 

_Down, down, down, you're rollin'   
Watch the blood float in the muddy sewer   
Take another hit   
And bury your brother_

**** 

Erica sighed. She looked to the wall beyond her desk at Enchantment, staring at nothing in particular. For the life of her, she couldn't concentrate on her work. She knew why. A year ago, today, she had taken the life of a young woman. A young woman who broke her daughter's heart. And a year ago, tomorrow, said daughter was checked into Oak Haven after she had found out what her mother had done. To say she had lost it would have been an understatement. She screamed bloody murder, literally, and grabbed her mother by the throat, intending to squeeze the life out of the older woman. It had taken both Jackson and Chris Stamp to pry Erica from the hysterical young woman's grasp. She had been in Oak Haven ever since, where doctors say she's beyond help. 

Erica sighed. She didn't know whether it was Frankie's betrayal or what Erica did to rectify it that sent her precious little girl over the edge. Maybe it was both. At times like this, Erica blamed Frankie. It was just so much easier. She was so lost in thought that she failed to notice the black bird perched on her window. Not even the flutter of its wings got her attention as it took flight. 

_And we die young   
Faster we run_

The bird flew through the night and into the graveyard where Frankie stood. It perched itself on a gravestone and looked her dead in the eyes. Frankie understood now what she had to do. She turned on her heel and took off running. The bird took flight and followed her. 

**** 

All too easily, she scaled the fence that lined the property that surrounded Oak Haven. She ran up to the building, careful not to be seen, and looked up at the many windows. Finally, she spied one that was unbarred and opened. Not believing her own strenth, she scaled the wall until she reached the window. She checked to make sure no one was in the room, and then climbed in to what looked like a janitor supply closet. She opened the door and walked out into the empty hall. Even the nurse's the station seemed to be deserted for the time being. She crept along the wall until she found what she was looking for. She didn't know how, but she knew this was Bianca's room. She slipped in and nearly gasped at what she saw. 

There was Bianca. Unblinking, unmoving and completely catatonic. Frankie couldn't believe that this was the same young vibrant woman she knew. It couldn't be. Her hair was a mess, all in tangles, and she was skin and bones. Frankie quietly approached her. "Bianca?" She whispered and recieved response. Frankie reached out and touched her hollowed cheek only to be hit by images and emotions so strong, she nearly screamed. 

She saw and felt everything though Bianca's eyes. She heard herself scream when she found out what Erica had done. She saw her hands wrap around Erica's neck and nearly choke her to death before Jackson and Chris pried her off. But most of all, she felt the blinding rage. The rage Bianca felt towards her mother. 

Frankie quickly withdrew her hand from the cheek of the still unmoving form and backed away. All she could do was stare. She stood there for what seemed like forever when a tapping sound got her attention. She turned toward the window and saw the black bird perched there, staring at her. When looked up from the bird, she noticed her reflection in the glass and gasped. Her face was all white, save for black lines running from the corners of her mouth, forming a painted-on smile, and vertical lines running from her forehead, down her eyes, to her cheeks. It was quite the death mask. She liked it. 

She smiled and looked to bird once more. "Times to makes things right." 

_Scary's on the wall   
Scary's on his way_

**** 

Erica was getting ready to pack up and call it a night when she heard a knock at the door. "Yes?" She said without looking up. Frankie smiled. 

"Miss Kane…" 

_Another alley trip   
Bullet seek the place to bend you over   
Then you got hit   
And you shoulda know better _

Faster we run   
And we die young 

-Fin 


End file.
